NFL Week 3 betting report: Pros on Arizona
The Week 3 NFL slate features three late afternoon games and a Sunday Night Football matchup between the New England Patriots and Detroit Lions. Will Bernanke, the lead analyst at CG Technology in Las Vegas, offered some feedback to theScore on how bettors are approaching the later games.
Chicago at Arizona
Open: CHI -6/37.5
Current: CHI -6/38.5
The Chicago Bears are off to a nice start under first-year coach Matt Nagy. Had they not blown a double-digit lead to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, the Bears would be off to a 2-0 start after they took down the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football last week.
A Bears defense led by newly-acquired Khalil Mack figures to have its way against an Arizona offense that's struggled out of the gate. The Cardinals mustered a meaningless touchdown in a 24-6 loss to the Washington Redskins before being shut out by the Los Angeles Rams last week.
Still, it hasn't shied sharp bettors from the home team catching points in this situation.
"We took a respected bet on the Cardinals at the opener at +6. It moved down but it's back at the current number," said Bernanke. "This is a pros (Cardinals) versus joes (Bears) matchup."
New England at Detroit
Open: NE -6.5/51.5
Current: NE -7/54.5
The New England Patriots are on the second of back-to-back road games, hoping for a better performance than what they gave last week. They were handed their first loss of the season to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had their way on offense en route to a 31-20 win.
It'll be a familiar face on the opposite sideline when the Patriots head to Detroit. First-year Lions head coach Matt Patricia was a long-time Patriots assistant who's looking to earn the first win of his tenure against his former club. Detroit was embarrassed at home by the New York Jets in Week 1, then came up short in a 30-27 road loss to San Francisco last Sunday.
New England typically garners a ton of money from the public on a weekly basis, and the book will likely see that again come closer to kickoff.
"This one is shaping up to be another pros (Patriots) versus joes (Lions)," said Bernanke.